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Culinary Arts: It's All in the Implements

You'll accumulate the tools of your culinary arts trade while you attend chef school, if you don't have them already. Knives, measuring implements, peelers and graters are the day-in-day-out kitchen multi-taskers. Even if chef school is only a dream, and you're just dabbling in the culinary arts for fun, I'll bet you have your chef tools. But do you have these three culinary arts necessities?

Culinary Arts Gadgets

Unlike tools, gadgets are the toys of the culinary arts trade. You don't need them, but you hunger for them. My goodness, you're a chef aren't you? The apple peeler is a kitchen gadget close to my heart. When my grandma died, my cousin Larry kept only her heavy iron apple peeler. Stick an apple on the prongs, snap the blade against its skin, and turn the handle. Today's spiffy models leave a neatly skinned apple; old iron ones, on the other hand, let small children launch apples spinning across the kitchen.

Guerilla Culinary Gear

My friend Linda and I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen together. It's hard to say which of us is more accident prone. So, my last two culinary must-haves come from the Linda and Wendy Chef School of Hard Knocks. For us, they're culinary necessities:

Liquid Bandage: I still have the scar that rings my thumb from a broken glass in the sink. If you're a chef who's as accident prone as me, then you'll love liquid bandage. Wipe the blood; drop liquid bandage directly on your cut; keep the blood in and the germs out.

Aloe Vera: Put an aloe vera plant by your cook top, and you'll have an instant fix for nasty burns. Snap a piece off the plant and squeeze the gel directly on your burn for immediate pain relief. One Thanksgiving, we turned our turkey a quarter turn every half hour. Ever try to balance a hot turkey on its side? Aloe vera for burns. Trust us.